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Atoms without a filled outer shell will share electrons with other atoms to accomplish this goal.
Filling outer electron shells controls which atom will pair with which others and in what combinations.
An important rule: the innermost shell holds two electrons; subsequent shells hold 8 electrons.
H2
A molecule is formed when two or more atoms are bound together covalently.
Drawing It Out
The sharing of a pair of electrons between atoms (a covalent bond) is shown as:
The covalent bonds of H2 and CH4 are non-polar and so are the molecules.
Therefore, the covalent bonds of H2O are highly polar and so is the molecule.
The result is ion formation. An ion is an atom or molecule with one or more full positive or negative charges.
Ionic Bonds
Two oppositely charged ions bind together. This type of chemical bond is an ionic bond. Salts are solids held together by ionic bonds.
Hydrogen Bonding
Oxygen and nitrogen are much more hungry for electrons than hydrogen. Bonds between nitrogen or oxygen and hydrogen are highly polar. This allows bonds to form between partially positive and partially negative atoms in different or (in large molecules) the same molecule.
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Covalent
Ionic
Hydrogen
Molecular Shape
Molecules have distinct shapes and shape matters.
Molecular Shape
A regulatory protein molecule (yellow) binding to DNA. Without complementary shapes, binding would not occur.
We perceive and distinguish odors because of the particular shape of the odorant (the molecule we smell) and receptor molecules on nose cells.
Molecules are often described as hydrophilic (waterloving) or hydrophobic (water-fearing) on the basis of their solubility in water.